Boston Battles – April 20, 2009
The women’s and men’s races at the BAA Boston Marathon on April 20 were almost polar opposites ...it was spine-tingling!
The women’s and men’s races at the BAA Boston Marathon on April 20 were almost polar opposites in the way they unfolded, but the end result was spine-tingling finishes in both gender categories. Salina Kosgei of Kenya outkicked defending champion Dire Tune in the closest women’s finish in the race’s history – 2:32:16 to 2:32:17. American Kara Goucher burst into tears after she crossed the line in third place, just nine seconds back. Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga took the laurel wreath for the men in 2:08:42, ahead of Daniel Rono of Kenya (2:09:32) and Ryan Hall of the U.S. (2:09:40).
The women began the marathon at a sauntering pace, with the lead pack hitting the half-marathon point in 1:18. Things didn’t really start to heat up until about 20 minutes were left in the race, when Goucher and Tune accelerated, dragging Kosgei with them. Kosgei smartly tucked in behind the two leaders until a decisive move on Tune in the final stretch.
By contrast, the men took off from the gun, flying through the 5K in a sizzling 14:33 and the halfway mark in 1:03:38. Merga made a decisive move near the 30K point, surging ahead of Rono and Hall.
Waterloo, Ont.’s Stephen Drew was the top Canadian man in 2:22:15, good for 21st place overall, while Jennifer Feenstra, 28, a Canadian living in Deluth, Georgia, was the top Canadian woman in 2:46:16. Denise Robson, 40, of Dartmouth, N.S., placed fourth in the masters division in 2:48:15 ,and Rami Bardeesy, 40, of Halifax made it a Nova Scotia sweep for the Canadian masters titles with a 2:28:57.
Amputee runner Rick Ball, 43, of Orillia, Ont. set a North American amputee record of 3:01:50, outclassing the 3:02:44 by fellow amputee Richard Whitehead of the U.K.
Canadian Diane Roy of Hatley, Que. finished second in the women’s wheelchair race in 2:01:27.
And finally, Canadian Running editorial director David Chaudy-Smart ran a 12-minute PB of 3:17:35, after five months of online coaching from Canadian marathon superstar Jon Brown. Look for Chaundy-Smart’s article about his Boston training experience in the September issue of Canadian Running.
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